All Articles Tagged "corporate boards"
No Room At the Table? Chicago Corporate Boards Lack Diversity
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The Chicago Urban League is calling out Chicago-area public companies over the lack of diversity in their boards. According to new survey by the Urban League of 160 corporate boards based in Chicago and the surrounding region, only 101 — or 6.6 percent — of 1,527 directors are African-American.
Breaking it down: There were no African-American board members at 73 companies; 71 companies have one, and 12 companies have two. Oak Brook-based McDonald’s Corp. and Detroit-based Compuware Corp. each have three, reports Chicago Business.
“It shows you there’s still a long way to go,” John Rogers Jr., chairman and CEO of Ariel Investments told the newspaper. “As diverse as Chicago is, there’s a lot of work to be done.”
Rogers discussed the survey at a meeting today with Chicago business leaders and KPMG LLC, which conducted the research spanning. According to the magazine, Andrea Zopp, president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League, agreed with Rogers and said she’s heartened that more than 50 percent of the companies surveyed have at least one African-American on their board. Several of the area’s largest companies, however, have none. These include Sears Holdings Corp., United Continental Holdings Corp., Navistar International Corp., Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., Aon PLC, CAN Financial, and CF Industries Holdings.
The three largest Chicago-area public companies — Archer Daniels Midland Co., Walgreen Co. and Boeing Co. — each have one African-American board member, writes the paper.
The Urban League plans to do the survey again in two years to chart any progress being made.
One of the reasons for the lack of diversity are the requirements for board members. “Sometimes companies make specifications [for board membership] so narrow, it’s hard to find any African-American that fits. But if you look at the skill set, someone with senior-level P&L experience or finance experience, there are African-Americans that fit that criteria well,” Zopp explained to Chicago Business. “You need people to say this is important and we’re going to make an effort to make it happen. The point is there’s talent here.”
Other research done last year by Chicago United, a nonprofit that works to improve job opportunities for people of color, showed similar findings. That study discovered that of the 567 individuals on the boards of the top 50 Chicago companies, 12 percent were racial minorities with African-Americans having the largest percentage, 6.5 percent.
Corporate Boards Leave Out Minorities, Women
(Bloomberg) — Women and minorities remain underrepresented in U.S. corporate boardrooms, crimping companies’ potential to lead in the global economy, a report by the Alliance for Board Diversity showed. White men held about 70 percent of the 1,211 board seats at Fortune 100 companies last year, little changed from 71 percent in 2004, said the alliance, which advocates the inclusion of women and minority directors. Women added 16 seats, a 1.1 percentage point gain the group called “not appreciable.” The biggest minority groups were African-American men at 7.3 percent, Hispanic men at 3.1 percent, and African-American women at 2.1 percent.
How Black Men Got Squeezed Out of Boardrooms
(BNET) – A new report from the nonprofit group Catalyststates that “Collectively, women and minorities lost ground in America’s corporate boardrooms between 2004 and 2010.” Based on Catalyst’s research, that’s true enough: White men accounted for 72.9 percent of the members of Fortune 100 boards in 2010-slightly more than 2004, when they accounted for 71.2 percent. But lumping “women and minorities” together masks the real problem. It’s true that women haven’t gained much ground since 2004–just one lousy percentage point. And Catalyst, as an organization dedicated to women’s advancement in corporate America, is most concerned with women’s representation. But in terms of board representation, what the Catalyst research really shows is a disaster for African-American men.
Corporate Boards Losing Diversity
(Blooomberg) — Women and minorities remain underrepresented in U.S. corporate boardrooms, crimping companies’ potential to lead in the global economy, a report by the Alliance for Board Diversity showed. White men held 73 percent of board seats at Fortune 100 companies last year, up from 71 percent in 2004, according to the alliance, which advocates the inclusion of women and minorities on corporate boards. White women accounted for 15 percent in 2010, compared with 14 percent in 2004, while minorities made up 13 percent, down from 15 percent. Citigroup Inc. (C), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) were among just 15 companies in the Fortune 500 whose boards last year had representation from each of the U.S. Census Bureau’s major groups: men, women, Whites, African Americans, Asian Pacific Islanders and Hispanics, the alliance said. Companies won’t reach their potential without leaders from different backgrounds, ethnicities and genders, it said.
More Women in Chicago’s Boardrooms
(Chicago Sun Times) — Women’s representation in the board rooms and executive suites of Chicago’s biggest companies has hit the highest level ever, a report from the Chicago Network shows. Women hold 15.3 percent of all director positions, up from 14.1 percent. The number rose to 85 from 77–the biggest one-year-increase and the highest level ever. The percentage of women directors out of all new directors more than doubled to 29.5 percent from 14 percent while the number of companies with no women directors fell to five from seven, the report shows.
More Board Members Getting Hired as CEOs: An Unwise Corporate Trend
(Daily Finance) — So why has the number of directors being tapped for CEO posts more than tripled in the past year? “The main reason is a lack of proper succession planning by companies,” says Anita Skipper, corporate governance director of Aviva Investors. “The need for prompt management changes during the financial crisis may also have compounded the trend. Boards are more risk-averse. If no one from management can quickly step into the CEO’s position, the ‘safe’ alternative is to choose someone well known to the board, who understands the strategy and business, and may have previous experience as a CEO.”
Women Left off Maryland Corporate Boards
(Baltimore Sun) — There are 180,000 more women living in Maryland than men, according to the Census Bureau. Women far surpass men in enrollment and graduation from Maryland universities, and they tend to get better grades.
Baltimore has its second woman mayor. Women Legislators of Maryland, founded in the 1960s, was the first women’s legislative caucus in the country. Nearly one legislator in three in Annapolis is female, the ninth-highest proportion in the country. If Maryland’sBarbara Mikulski is re-elected this year, she’ll be the longest-serving woman in the history of the U.S. Senate.
